New Pool Project for 2012, (ended up less pool more project)

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: Looking for 22' Intex Ultraframe owners

How long will cyanuric acid keep in a closed and sealed container?

Is it anything like bleach that looses it's strength over time, or can we buy extra 7lb versus 4lb and save the rest for future use?

What about the other chemicals used in the BBB syatem?

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: Looking for 22' Intex Ultraframe owners

Hey everyone,

Hoping you all had a good first day back to work after the holiday weekend...Is there such a thing?....lol

We got a pretty good spot of rain very early this morning, so no real progress on the pool site, however we did take the time to build a tamper out of some scrap metal we had laying around.

This puppy is HEAVY, lol, it is going to take 2 men and a boy to use it!

Enjoy

 

[linen]

Re: Looking for 22' Intex Ultraframe owners

How long will cyanuric acid keep in a closed and sealed container?

Several years if kept sealed and dry.

What about the other chemicals used in the BBB syatem?

Other than chlorine, I think the rest has years of shelf life if kept dry. MA if kept sealed does not go bad.

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: Looking for 22' Intex Ultraframe owners

Linen,

Thanks bunches, that really helps.

Now I know we can go ahead and buy some extra or even stock up on a few things when we catch them on sale.

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year

Hey everyone,

Just a quick update on our project.

We went to town this morning to buy a few things we needed, PVC pipe, treated 4x4s, and a few more landscape timbers.

When we got home we got a BIG surprise, so we had to go back to town and buy our new pool TODAY!

Here is a picture, (I know how everyone just loves pictures, lol).
[attachment=0c5ylr7c]Standalone_1175X1290.jpg[/attachmentc5ylr7c]

By the time we got home with the new fridge I am thinking just about everything in the old one has gone bad, so guess we will have to start all over there too..

So there goes our swimming summer.... :grrrr: :grrrr: :grrrr:

On the bright side we now have a full year to finish working on the site and getting it all ready.

Well we are going to be gone for the weekend, oldest grandson graduates high school tomorrow and then a party for him on Sunday.

Hope everyone has a Safe and fun weekend.

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year

BTW, the new fridge is a Whirlpool, so it does count even if we can't swim in it...

Well since we are having to put off the pool for awhile we decided to move forward with building the shed and moving the wood furnace, but we had to move our pile of screenings first, so out of all our options we chose to go ahead and put it where the pool will end up, man that is allot of rock, lol.

Here are some pics of what we got done this afternoon after an 8:30 am doc appt and stop for groceries on the way home, we watched the noon news and then got busy.

We have figured out we have plenty of rock for the pool, the shed and the area where the pool equipment will be installed.

This is looking back toward the shed site, the equipment will go between the pool and shed, this will provide shade in the summer, and heat in the winter to prevent anything from freezing.

There will be landscape timbers going out away from that corner post toward the left to frame the 24 x 24 area for the pool, then another timber will go out from the one already in place beyond the post, this will give us a 16 x 10 area, 4 foot between the pool area and shed for equipment, supplies, and toys, then the 10 x 10 shed, then another 2 ft area to stack firewood, (we will build a roof over the firewood area and then hang tarps around to keep it dry), the equipment area will be fully enclosed and insulated, with a lid that raises up, then 2 doors in the center that swing open in opposite directions for access to the equipment, and we will add a blower inside the shed to blow heat during the winter.

The next 2 pictures are just where we piled the rock in the pool area and did some minor spreading, it looks like we will have plenty left over for a couple of other projects.

We are pretty much level with the first 2 timbers that are already set coming back along the side of the pool area, still have one more to set and then the next corner post.

This is the main pile of rock, it is about 4 foot deep in this picture, and is pretty close to covering the entire area for the pool.

The corner posts are serving 2 purposes, first they close the corners of the timbers, this is allowing us to use 3 full 8 ft lengths to get our 24 ft, then we will be mounting 4" x 4" solar light caps on top of each post.

This has turned out to be a pretty big project, (the yard didn't look even close to being that far out of level, lol), I am so sore it isn't even funny, and the other half says I look like a Thanksgiving Turkey, and I need to turn over and cook on the other side for awhile, lol, (I am part Cherokee Indian, so when I get out in the sun I just turn dark and darker), but I have very long blonde hair and when it gets sun bleached it gets REALLY blonde.

I know still nothing very exciting, but it is some progress, lol.

Posting even small steps like this will make for a nice documentation of the entire project.

Hope you all enjoy watching our project, even if it is still rather boring right now.

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year

Hey everyone.

Hope you all had a good week! TGIF

Well we have made some progress this week, getting there slowly but surely, thought I would post a few more pics.

Since we had to buy the new fridge and put the pool off for a while, we started working toward getting the shed done so we can move the wood furnace, but since the equipment will go between the shed and pool we had to go ahead and frame and start building up that area also.

The first 3 pics are where we stopped last night, I took the pics but was too dog tired to post them, lol.

This is our "lil" tractor, Kubota 4 x 4, it is a real work horse, it has tons of power but no weight, poor thing, but it will run forever on 5 gallons of diesel, unlike Big Yellow below, (it takes 5 gallons just to start that thing, lol).

Big yellow there belongs to our best friend, it is a 3400 Ford Commercial, fluid filled rear tires, 6' Gill box blade on the rear, that thing is HEAVY, lol, (it is over fueling BIG TIME, we are gonna have to get new injectors for it soon, that is why the 4' stove pipe is on the muffler, makes the smoke and fumes go over our head instead of in our face), this is how we have been digging and moving the clay, (wish our backhoe was running, it is a 750 Ford, and will move 3 times as much as his does, plus having the backhoe itself to dig with would have made this so much faster and easier), but big yellow does a good days work.

This shows we have the shed area completed, (as far as level and rock, still have to put the tile for the floor in).
You can see between the tractor and the finished area for the shed there is a 2 x 6 we used to scissor the rock level, it is leaning against the small 4 x 4 sticking up, that short post will be replaced with a taller one later, it is 2' past the corner of the shed, there will be an area there the length of the shed with a roof so we can store and keep firewood dry.

We still have to lay landscape timbers from that post out 16', there will be a 6' x 12' "porch/deck" out in front of the shed so we have a place to work with the tablesaw, or horizontal bandsaw, or sawhorses, ect.

From the tall post to the next set of timbers, (first side of the shed area), is where the pool equipment, supplies, tools and toys will be, the whole 4' x 16' area will be enclosed, with the first 10' from the post out having a roof/lid that will raise up for access, the last 6' will be taller and used for stuff like garden tools, lawnmower, ect., we are going to use 2" thick pavers as a floor in this area.

This is a picture showing the grade where we didn't have to level, (north side of backyard), it doesn't look like much of a slope huh?

When we are finished there will be a tie wall along this side from the house all the way to the wood line, and then along the wood line to the left and going away, (south) in this picture, then back along the equipment area back to the house, it will go all the way to the top of the pool for the deck, once the wall is built, we will put in drain tile and backfill to and level with the clay with 2" clean.

Now this is looking back to the south and you can see just how big that slope really is, (a good 4').

Looks like a mess since we have been scooping up rock to level the shed area, lol.

The next 2 are from the south side looking back north.

We decided to make one change in our plan this evening after looking at everything, since we had to go 3 timbers high to raise the shed above ground level it doesn't look right so we are going to add another layer of timbers all the way around the pool area, and add another inch or so of rock.

Once the deck is built it won't even show, but it might be another couple of years before we get that far so we want it to look better between now and then.

Well enough babbling for tonight, lol, yea I can be a real "Chatty Kathy", but hey how else are you supposed to make any sense out of our disaster at this point, giggles.

Hope you enjoy, and Please, Everyone have a Safe and Happy Weekend.

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year

Hey everyone,

Hoping you all had a wonderful weekend.

Well after being down for a couple of days recovering from the heat on Friday, we did get out for a couple of hours today, didn't get much done, but thought I would post a pic of our planned floor layout for the shed.

All we did here was juat lay the tiles out in the pattern we wanted, just guessed at the spacing for now, basically just trying to see how many would fit each way.

They were calling for rain here today thru Tuesday, but it missed a really good chance today, it looked like it could open up and dump on us several times, but no such luck, maybe tomorrow, crossing fingers.

Why is it when you don't want rain it never stops, and when you do want it, there is none to be found?

Hope everyone has a great work week.

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year

Hey everyone,

Well I woke up to a pouring rain this morning, YEAAAAAA, finally.

It was supposed to rain all day but from the looks of it, we are about done, sighs, we need rain bad around here, (plus I need a good excuse to justify taking a day or two off, lol).

Have a Great Day

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year

Hey everyone,

Hoping your week is off to a good start.

Well we got off to a late start yesterday due to the little bit of rain we got over the weekend, only took until noon for the ground to dry out, the dig area is still a dust bowl, ugggggggs.

Anyway we finally made a lil progress yesterday afternoon/evening, it was pretty dark by the time we stopped so had to wait until this morning to snap a few pics.

Unfortunately still no pool, and not very much in the way of noticeable changes, but some progress anyway.

Got a few more buckets of clay added to the far side, actually working on blending the slope into the existing yard now.

Got a couple more ties laid in and another corner post set.

A different angle in the morning sun.

The new shed, saw and tools under the blue tarp to keep them dry.

Hope you enjoy.

BTW, Tomorrow is Hump Day,

 

[linen]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year

Looking good! What are the posts for?

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year

Hey Linen,

Thanks, lots and lots of work so far, go back and compare the first couple of pics with these.

The posts are actually serving 2 purposes, first they close the corners where the timbers end, by having those in there we can use 3 full 8' length timbers = 24' instead of coming up with an odd size by either mitering the corners of the timbers or butting one side to another.

Second we are going to mount these solar lights on top for some evening light.

When we get around to building the deck, they will be used for supports, but will have to be cutoff some, we used 8' long posts and put 2' in the ground, giggles, so I guess they will actually be serving 3 different purposes when it is all said and done.

Oh BTW, I think in my earlier post I said tomorrow would be Hump Day, ummm, I lost a day somewhere, TODAY is Hump Day....

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year

BTW I was going to post this last week but I was so worn out the day I thought of it I messed around and forgot about it.

We have found this project to be a very effective weight loss program, I have dropped 20+ pounds already, and getting pretty toned, and that doesn't include my tan, my other half says I could be on the coppertone commercials, lol

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year

Hey everyone,

I hope you are all having a great week, this one ends tomorrow.

Well no pics with this post, we haven't made much progress the past couple of days, around here this time of year it gets warm, but with the mild winter we had my worst fear is coming true, the temps are already hitting the min to upper 90s, and the humidity is on the rise.

We were only out for a couple of hours yesterday, and today we put the car in our friends garage and replaced one of the metal brake lines on the rear, it had rusted thru and NO BRAKES.

Anyway got that fixed, came home had dinner and then went out to search for the fuel leak on Big Yellow, found a broken fuel return line between 2 injectors, so in the morning we will go get some new hose and replace everything from the injector pump to the tank, that should make the fuel go much farther, lol, the leak was like a gusher.

Well with that I will bid all a great evening.

Off for a nice hot shower. Bye

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year

Hey everyone,

Well we got another week behind us, now it is time to Party...

I didn't post pics last time so I will today, still haven't made all that much progress, but the pics are something different anyway, lol.

We got up this morning, went to town and got parts, came home, fixed the fuel leak on Big Yellow, got the front yard cut, (backyard as you know doesn't have any grass left, lol), then we built a canopy over the shed area to provide some shade while we set the floor tiles, really hoping to get those set tomorrow, then will let them set about a week before grouting the joints.

K, here come the pics:

Set another corner post here.

Here is our hand roller to compact the corners where the tractors can't get to anymore, (still gonna have to hand tamp some, but this will do allot).

Finished up the one side and turned the corner after setting the corner post, got a nice start on this line.

You can see the canopy on the far end.

Made for the shade.

It isn't fancy, but we are hoping it will provide some shade to give us some relief while we get the floor tiles set.

We just put 2 pieces of the PVC conduit together for each side, stuck each end down in a concrete block, took some stainless wire and tied between them, ran the wire down to 3 anchor points on each side, then took an old tarp and wire tied it to the arches, pulled it all tight, and now we have some shade. :-D

With a little luck I will post pics of the shed floor cast in stone tomorrow evening, lol.

Well enough for now, here's to everyone having a safe and fun weekend.

To all the Farthers out there, Happy Farther's Day to you.

 

[nelson411]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year

Hi Samantha!

Wow,
You guys are really making some progress. I can tell that in every little change there is an enormous amount of work, especially in that hot ol' sun!

While I am at it I will post a drawing I made of the foam layout I plan to use for the new pool.

May I ask what software or format do you do those wonderful drawings with? I want to draw one of our pool site.

I really appreciate the pictures too. I think I get how you are placing the timbers. Love the detail and the pics!!

You have a beautiful setting in your back yard. How much space do you have? I really wish we lived in the country. Suburban life does not compare!

Looking forward to more pics next week!

Happy Father's day to you too!

Cheers,

Liz

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year

Hey Liz,

Wow,
You guys are really making some progress. I can tell that in every little change there is an enormous amount of work, especially in that hot ol' sun!

Thanks, some of it is not too bad, but other parts are a real chore, building up the site wasn't really that hard, just very time consuming, our friends tractor, (Big Yellow), is getting the job done, but we would kill to have our big backhoe running right now, the backhoe part digs MUCH faster and the front bucket is about 3 times bigger than his, plus ours is an automatic shift, his clutch is killing my left knee, and we have to run it in the lower gears for enough power to move a full bucket of clay.

May I ask what software or format do you do those wonderful drawings with? I want to draw one of our pool site.

The program I used to make the foam layout is call Photoshop 5, but I have all kinds of Cadd programs, including 3 or 4 3D, there are a few free drawing programs you can DL that work pretty good.

I really appreciate the pictures too. I think I get how you are placing the timbers. Love the detail and the pics!!

The pics are nothing, they are actually the easy part, lol. I enjoy posting them and hope everyone enjoys looking at them and watching the progress.

We are placing our timbers differently than what I suggested to you, ours are not stair stepped, we started at the high end and are bringing everything else up to that level, in your case I had suggested starting at the lower level and building up to the high end, if done properly you can save a couple of timbers, but again no higher than you are having to go, either way will work out fine.

You have a beautiful setting in your back yard. How much space do you have? I really wish we lived in the country. Suburban life does not compare!

Thanks, we have 21 acres, all woods except for where we have cleared for the pond, barn, and house. It is really nice out here, quiet, and lots of wildlife, when we had our 16' Quick Set up before we watched deer trying to drink out of it several times, our kitchen has a sliding glass door that looks right out at our site.

We love living out here, we are 6ths of a mile from the county road, and our closest neighbor is 1/2 mile away, there are a few downsides to living out here though, first the county road has been all gravel for the last 21 years, (they FINALLY paved it last week, ), and you would think we are far enough from the road that the dust wouldn't be an issue, WRONG, lol, second it is 30 miles in any direction to a town of any size, when we bought this place gas was affordable, now it costs a fortune just to go after groceries, :grrrr:.

I think the progress is going to slow down some, the heat is getting pretty high here, but unlike out west we have high humidity and it is getting to be miserable out.

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year

Hey everyone,

Hope you are all having a Great Weekend so far!

Well no new pics today, for one thing I am just too tired to go take any, lol, and as stated earlier that is the easy part.

We totally miscalculated the time to lay the tiles in the shed floor.

We figured a good 10-12 hour day would have gotten them all layed in, SO WRONG!, laying the tile out in the heat even with the canopy has turned out to be a real chore, and slowwwwwwwwww going. After 8 hours, and passing out after the first 4, all we managed was about 25%, ugggggggggs.

We got an early start figuring to beat the heat some, that didn't work either, lol.

The mortar was drying out so fast it was really hard to work with, had to constantly add water to keep it workable, not ideal but it is just a shed floor, lol, worse case if it doesn't hold up we will do something different later, (we already had the tile and mortar laying around from another project so nothing really lost if it doesn't work out).

This stage of the project has turned out to be great for the weight loss though, lol, dropped 4 pounds today alone, (yea I know just water weight from sweating), it still made me happy when I stepped on the scales for a change.

OK enough rattling for now, I need a shower like BADDDDDDD, ROFLMAO.

Have a Safe and Enjoyable weekend.

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year

Hey again everyone,

I know this is either late or early depending on the standard you use, in the movies they wait until the very end, but it just dawned on me today that I had not included a Disclaimer in this thread yet, and since my mind isn't what it use to be, (old timers thing doncha know), I figured I would post it while it was on my mind.

Disclaimer:

Don't try to duplicate any acts or events contained in this project at home.

Everything you see and hear in this thread are being performed in a controlled environment by highly skilled Professional Amateurs.

No animals have been nor will they be harmed during the course of this project!

Any attempt to duplicate any act, or event illustrated or discussed in regard to this project may be hazardous to your health.

Dangers in include:

Possible Sunburn
Blisters, Nicks, Cuts, Abrasions, Bruises
Aches & Pains
Cramps
Dehydration
Fatigue
Broken Funny Bone, (it can be anything but funny at times)
Brain Freeze, (trying to figure out what went wrong, why it went wrong and how you are going to fix it)
Hair Loss, (caused by pulling), Stress, Depression, Nervous Breakdown, Shock, Heart Attack (depending on what goes wrong and how bad it is)
Running out of Time, Patience, and/or Money
Premature Greying
Feeling 10 to 20 years older, (depending on how long the project drags on)
Possibly ending up in the Nut House and/or the Poor House!
Additional risks are possible!

Of course being the highly trained & skilled Professional Amateurs that we are, we have not been subject to any adverse effects as listed above.

Our stuff always works sometimes! (Will Smith in Bad Boys)

However, should you attempt to recreate any of the acts, or events related to this project, (as illustrated or discussed), and you are successful and manage to complete said project with your sanity in tact, then you can look forward to many fun, wonderful hours of well deserved rest and relaxation.

OK that is my attempt at humor for the month, I hope I made you laugh or at least put a smile on your face!

Have a Wonderful Evening!

 

[linen]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year

I laughed :-D thanks